II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4007 

To direct the Attorney General to study issues relating to human trafficking, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 20, 2024 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. RUBIO, and Mr. HAWLEY) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To direct the Attorney General to study issues relating to 

human trafficking, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Put Trafficking Vic5 tims First Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING TRAINING FOR 

2 PROSECUTIONS OF TRAFFICKERS AND SUP3 PORT FOR STATE SERVICES FOR TRAF4 FICKING VICTIMS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that a portion of the funds 

6 available for training and technical assistance under sec7 tion 107(b)(2)(B)(ii) of the Trafficking Victims Protection 

8 Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7105(b)(2)(B)(ii)) should be de9 voted to advancing the following goals: 

10 (1) Increasing the personal safety of organiza11 tions working in the human trafficking field, who 

12 may face intimidation or retaliation for their activi13 ties. 

14 (2) Promoting a trauma-informed, evidence15 based, culturally competent, and victim-centered ap16 proach to the provision of services for victims of 

17 trafficking. 

18 (3) Ensuring that law enforcement officers and 

19 prosecutors make every attempt to determine wheth20 er an individual is a victim of human trafficking be21 fore arresting the individual for, or charging the in22 dividual with, an offense that is related to the traf23 ficking victimization of the individual. 

24 (4) Effectively prosecuting traffickers and indi25 viduals who patronize or solicit children for sex, and 

26 facilitating access for child victims of commercial sex 


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1 trafficking to the services and protections afforded 

2 to other victims of sexual violence. 

3 (5) Encouraging States to improve efforts to 

4 identify and meet the needs of human trafficking 

5 victims and individuals at risk for trafficking victim6 ization, through methods that are responsive to the 

7 needs of victims in their communities. 

8 SEC. 3. WORKING GROUP TO DEVELOP METHODOLOGIES 

9 TO ASSESS PREVALENCE OF HUMAN TRAF10 FICKING. 

11 (a) WORKING GROUP.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

14 General, in consultation with other Federal entities 

15 engaged in efforts to combat human trafficking, 

16 shall establish an expert working group, which 

17 shall— 

18 (A) utilize, to the extent practicable, exist19 ing efforts of agencies, task forces, States, lo20 calities, tribes, research institutions, and orga21 nizations; 

22 (B) identify barriers to the collection of 

23 data on the incidence of sex and labor traf24 ficking; and 


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1 (C) recommend practices to promote better 

2 data collection and analysis. 

3 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The working group estab4 lished pursuant to paragraph (2) shall include— 

5 (A) survivors of human trafficking; 

6 (B) experts on sex and labor trafficking; 

7 (C) representatives from organizations col8 lecting data on human trafficking; and 

9 (D) law enforcement officers. 

10 (3) PILOT TESTING.—Not later than 3 years 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the At12 torney General shall implement a pilot project to 

13 test promising methodologies studied under para14 graph (1). 

15 (b) REPORT.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after 

17 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney 

18 General, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, 

19 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the 

20 Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of 

21 the Center for Countering Human Trafficking of the 

22 Department of Homeland Security, shall submit a 

23 report to Congress that includes— 


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1 (A) a description of Federal efforts to esti2 mate the prevalence of human trafficking at the 

3 national and regional levels; 

4 (B) the effectiveness of current policies 

5 and procedures to address the needs of victims 

6 of trafficking; 

7 (C) an analysis of demographic character8 istics of victims of trafficking in different re9 gions of the United States; and 

10 (D) recommendations for how to address 

11 the unique vulnerabilities of different victims. 

12 (2) INPUT FROM RELEVANT PARTIES.—In de13 veloping the report required under paragraph (1), 

14 the Attorney General shall seek input from— 

15 (A) the United States Advisory Council on 

16 Human Trafficking; 

17 (B) victims of sex and labor trafficking; 

18 (C) human trafficking survivor advocates; 

19 (D) service providers for victims of sex and 

20 labor trafficking; and 

21 (E) the President’s Interagency Task 

22 Force on Human Trafficking. 

23 (c) SURVEY.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

24 of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in co25 ordination with Federal, State, local, and Tribal governVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Apr 03, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4007.IS S4007

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1 ments, and private organizations, including victim service 

2 providers and expert researchers, shall— 

3 (1) develop and execute a survey of survivors 

4 seeking and receiving victim assistance services for 

5 the purpose of improving the provision of services to 

6 human trafficking victims and victim identification 

7 in the United States; and 

8 (2) make the results of such survey publicly 

9 available on the website of the Department of Jus10 tice. 

11 (d) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—No additional funds 

12 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section. 

13 SEC. 4. REPORT ON PROSECUTORS SEEKING RESTITUTION 

14 IN TRAFFICKING CASES. 

15 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

16 of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with the 

17 Administrative Office of the United States Courts, shall 

18 submit a report to Congress that describes efforts to in19 crease restitution to victims of human trafficking. 

20 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ENCOURAGING STATES TO 

21 ADOPT PROTECTIONS FOR VICTIMS OF TRAF22 FICKING. 

23 Congress recognizes and applauds State legislative 

24 bodies that have taken tremendous steps to adopt protecVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:24 Apr 03, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4007.IS S4007

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1 tions and services for victims of trafficking and encourages 

2 States— 

3 (1) to uphold the dignity of human trafficking 

4 survivors; 

5 (2) to ensure the safety, confidentiality, and 

6 well-being of victims of trafficking, while recognizing 

7 symptoms of trauma and coping mechanisms that 

8 may impact victims’ interactions with law enforce9 ment, the justice system, and service providers; 

10 (3) to implement screening mechanisms to iden11 tify and extend appropriate services to children in 

12 the custody of child protective services agencies, the 

13 juvenile justice system, or the criminal justice sys14 tem who are or may be victims of trafficking; 

15 (4) to promote greater access to child welfare 

16 services and other appropriate victim services for, 

17 rather than criminalization of, child victims of sex 

18 trafficking; 

19 (5) to develop a 24-hour emergency response 

20 plan by which victims of human trafficking may re21 ceive immediate protection, shelter, and support 

22 from a victim assistance coordinator when those vic23 tims are first identified; 

24 (6) to adopt protections for adult victims of 

25 trafficking, such as protection if the victim’s safety 


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1 is at risk, comprehensive trauma-informed, long2 term, culturally competent care and healing services, 

3 mental health services to relieve traumatic stress, 

4 housing, education (including, where appropriate, vo5 cational training and employment assistance), men6 toring, language assistance, drug and substance 

7 abuse services, and legal services; 

8 (7) to ensure that child trafficking victims— 

9 (A) are treated as children in need of child 

10 protective services; and 

11 (B) receive appropriate care from child 

12 welfare and other appropriate victim services, 

13 rather than from the juvenile justice system; 

14 (8) to adopt procedures for human trafficking 

15 victims that are consistent with the procedures af16 forded to victims of sexual assault, rape, child sexual 

17 abuse, or incest to allow human trafficking victims 

18 to clear records, expunge convictions, and vacate ad19 judications related to prostitution and nonviolent of20 fenses that arose as a direct result of being traf21 ficked; and 

22 (9) to ensure victims of trafficking, including 

23 United States citizens, lawful permanent residents, 


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1 and foreign nationals, are eligible for victim assist2 ance services. 

Æ 


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